By P. K. Niaz
A university in the southern Indian State of Kerala has banned using the word “Intifada” as it has ‘direct links with the Palestine-Israel conflict and the word is being used by Hamas’.
Vice-Chancellor, Dr Mohanan Kunnummal, directed that the word Intifada be removed from all promotional material of the festival, including posters and social media handles. The festival was renamed ‘Kerala University Youth Festival’.
The order comes after a complaint filed by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of India’s ruling right-wing Hindu nationalist party, the BJP.
The ABVP also alleged that naming the festival Intifada was an attempt by the students’ union controlled by the leftist outfit, SFI. According to them, SFI, the students’ wing of the Marxist party, is trying to legitimise an “extremist and terrorist terminology”.
This story was originally published in middleeastmonitor.com. Read the full story here.
